Each month, Bluecoat Display Centre turns its shop window into a curated exhibition space. Each October they partner with the Festival. This year, they have brought together two of Ireland's most accomplished makers.
Adam Frew (ceramicist) works exclusively in porcelain, throwing clean, simple forms on the potter's wheel. He combines skills at the wheel with an eye for abstraction and mark making — crayons, splashes, drips, masked out and sponged back areas — driven by a love of immediacy and gestural energy. Based in County Derry, his work carries the quiet confidence of a maker who has spent two decades refining something that looks effortless and is anything but. (Links: Irish Design Shop, Homo Faber)
Maureen Lynch's jewellery is renowned for its sophisticated simplicity, where detail is considered and restrained. Her simple forms are softened with curves and natural lines, making each piece eminently wearable; a subtle statement of elegance. Without the addition of surface detail, light glints from polished surfaces. Based in Dún Laoghaire, she graduated from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, before undertaking further studies in silversmithing in Copenhagen and stone setting in Vancouver. (Links: Design Ireland, Maureenlynch)
Together in the window, these two makers — one working in clay, one in silver — share a commitment to form, restraint and the beauty of things made by hand.
Image credit (c) Adam Frew.
Maureen's work (c) Maureen Lynch: